The present invention generally relates to hand-pulled carts or totes. The present invention more particularly relates to a hand-pulled, wheeled tote capable of easily transporting many bags and boxed items and which is collapsible or foldable to a size that may be stored and carried alone or in a bag, backpack, briefcase or purse, for example, such that the tote is readily available to a shopper when needed.
When shopping, shoppers typically accumulate many bags and/or boxed items during a single shopping trip. As the number of bags and boxes continue to grow in number during a shopping trip, shoppers struggle under the heavy load and become quickly tired and aggravated with the unmanageability of handling multiple bagged and boxed items. This problem is exacerbated if the shopper has any physical ailments, e.g., back or hand problems. Some shoppers are known to make trips to their car to unload the bags and boxes and then return to the stores for more shopping, or leave the mall altogether in frustration. Shoppers with small children in strollers sometimes use the strollers for carrying the bags and boxes however, this is a dangerous practice since the stroller is not designed to carry heavy, uneven loads and may tip over. Plastic bags placed near the child are also a suffocation hazard.
Wheeled carts are known for carrying luggage through an airport, for example, yet these carts are typically heavy and bulky even in their collapsed positions. Furthermore, such carts are designed to only hold generally rectangular shaped and rigid sided pieces of luggage on their platform, usually secured to the cart with a bungee cord. These carts are not designed to hold multiple bags by their handles. Attempts to hang bags over the top of the handle usually result in the load becoming unbalanced resulting in the cart tipping over. If the bags are secured under the bungee cord on top of a piece of luggage sitting on the platform, the bag may slip out from beneath the bungee and fall to the floor. As such, these types of wheeled luggage carts are simply not suitable for use in a shopping environment where many purchased items are carried in handled, plastic or paper bags. Furthermore, due to their weight and large size even in the folded position, these types of carts are not readily carried by a person for use when needed during a shopping trip.
There therefore exists a need for a wheeled tote for shoppers which is foldable to a very compact size and capable of carrying multiple handled bags and boxed items in a safe and secure manner. It would furthermore be desirable to provide a tote that may be wheeled along with a wheelchair or stroller, for example.